The Guardian
by grumpy22
Summary: AU Jude married Jamie but when he dies and leaves her all alone with nothing but a dog named Singer and a promise to watch over her. Much better than it sounds. Jommy pairing. Please read and review. I love hearing what you have to say.
1. Chapter 1

The guardian

Prologue  
Jude Andrews husband left her two unexpected gifts before he died- a Great Dane puppy named singer and the promise that he would always be watching over her. Now two years later, twenty six year old Jude is ready to make a commitment to someone again. But who will it be? should it be Max Evens, the handsome sophisticated engineer who treats her like a queen? Or should it be Tom Quincy, the down to earth nice guy who was her husbands best friend? choosing one of them should bring her more happiness than she's had in years. Instead, Jude is soon fighting for her life in a nightmare spawned by a chilling deception and jealousy so poisonous that it has become a murderous desire.

Chapter 1  
It was the first Christmas since Jamie died and Jude was miserable. After two months she still couldn't believe that she was a widow. She couldn't believe that at the age of twenty three she was a widow. Widow. That word kept running circles in her brain as she sat in the kitchen watching as rain hit the window.

Ever since Jamie died she felt so sad and alone and now she was spending Christmas alone. Sure Victoria had invited her over for dinner, so did Sadie, Quest, and Tommy but she had declined all there offers. She knew they were just trying to help her but she also knew there was nothing they could to make her feel better. She had been walking around like a zombie ever since the tumor in Jamie's brain took his life.

Jude's life had never been really great as a child; her mom had to addictions, drinking and men. As a child Jude had never minded the men that came in and out of her mother's life and they never pain any attention to her. This all changed as Jude got older and hit puberty. The guys that would come to the house with her mom were suddenly taking an interest in Jude. This was something that bothered Jude but Yvette was always to drunk to notice. Then when Jude was seventeen her mom's current boyfriend tried to force himself on her. Jude was able to stop him but when she told her mom what happened Yvette blamed Jude. She said that Jude had tried to seduce him and that she had brought it upon herself. Jude couldn't believe that her mom didn't believe her. It was soon after this that Jude found herself homeless.

The six months that Jude was home less were the scariest of her life, but she refused to become just another bum. She wasn't like the people that she met on the street; she didn't steel, beg for money, and she refused to sleep with men for money. Instead she found jobs, she worked at any place that would hire her, but there weren't many places that would hire a homeless girl who never even finished high school, and the places that did hire her never paid much.

One morning Jude was at a diner drinking a cup of coffee that she had bought with the last of her money. That was the day she met Jamie. He bought her breakfast and said he'd do the same again the next day if she came back. That night Jude couldn't sleep, she couldn't decide if she should go or not. Sure she was hungry but what if he wanted something in return, something she wasn't willing to give. In the end her hunger won and she went to the diner. When she got there he was already sitting at the table she had been sitting at the day before. Before sitting down with him she asked him why he was doing this for her and he calmly explained that he saw her come in the day before and he thought she looked scared and lost and he just wanted to do something nice for her, no strings attached. She could tell that he was being sincere so she sat down and they ate breakfast together. They ate breakfast together every day until he had to go home. The last day he was there he told her that if she went to Toronto he would find her a place to live and help her get a job.  
About a month later she moved to Toronto; she didn't even know how to find him or if he was even serious when he made that offer. But after a week in Toronto she ran into him at the park; he took her to his Aunt Victoria's house. Victoria was really great to Jude; she gave Jude a job sweeping hair at her salon, she helped get a decent apartment. And after a couple of months of living in Toronto she convinced Jude to get her GED and then she helped her get a license to cut hair.

Jamie had introduced her to his friends and they all befriended her as well, but Jamie was still her best friend. He was the one she turned to for support and he was always there for her when she needed a shoulder to cry on. They were always hanging out together. At first she was happy he didn't try to further their relationship even though she new that he liked her, but after a while she got annoyed, then she got pissed. Eventually she confronted him and asked him why he wouldn't make a move on her. He said that he didn't want to rush her into something she might not be ready for. After a long talk they decided to start dating.

After that day Jude and Jamie were inseparable. They dated for about a year before getting married. Two years later they found out that Jamie had a brain tumor. They did everything possible to get him better but nothing worked and he died two years later leaving Jude all alone.


	2. Chapter 2

I forgot to do the disclaimer thing on the last chapter so I'm going to do it now. I do not own instant star or anything like that. this story is based on a book by Nicolas Sparks.

Chapter 2  
A loud knock at the door brought Jude out of her thoughts. When she opened the door she saw a teenaged boy, who she had never met, standing there holding a large box.  
"Are you Jude?" he asked her.  
"Yes. Who are you?" she asked in return.  
"My father asked me to give this to you." He said ignoring her question and handing her the box. "Don't shake it or put it upside down." He said before starting to walk back to his car.  
"Wait. What is this? Why are you giving this to me?" she asked his retreating form.  
"I told you my father told me to give that to you. He said you'd understand once you opened it." He said as he opened his car door and got in.  
"Who's your dad and why does he want me to have this?" she asked but he just ignored her and drove away.  
She took the box back to the kitchen and put it on the table. When she opened it and saw a puppy in the far corner of the box as if trying to hide in the shadows of the box. She was wondering why someone she didn't know sent her a puppy when she saw an envelope taped to the top of the box with her name on it. It was written in a hand writing she thought she would never see again. She knew even before opening it that it was from Jamie.  
My Dearest Jude,  
I know that if you are reading this it means I am no longer here with you. I don't know how long I have been gone but I hope you have started to heal. I don't know if I would be able to if the situation were reversed, but I've always thought of you as the stronger of the two of us.  
As you can see I bought you a dog. Darius Mills, a friend of my father, has been raising Great Danes since I was a kid. I always wanted one but as you know I am allergic to all dogs. I know Great Danes are big dogs but they are also some of the sweetest dogs.  
I always knew that I wouldn't make it, but I didn't want to accept it because I knew that if I didn't make it you would be alone with no family to help you through this. It broke my heart to think of you being alone. I didn't know what to do so I bought you a dog.  
I hope your doing ok. Ever since I found out I was sick I've been worrying about you non-stop. I love you Jude, I really do. I've never been as happy as I was when ever I was with you. You are my dream come true. It would really break my heart if you'd never be happy again. I hope you are happy, because you deserve to be happy. Be happy again, find someone who makes you happy. It might be hard at first but I want you to try, because the world is a better and brighter place when you smile.  
And don't worry, you're not really alone. From wherever I am I'll look out for you. I'll be your guardian angel sweetie.  
I love you,  
Jamie  
By the time she finished reading the letter she had finished she reading the letter she had tears running down her face. She was crying so much that she had more mascara on her cheeks then on her eye lashes. When she was finally able to compose herself she looked down at the puppy, who was still trying to hide in the corner of the box. He looked as scared and alone as she felt, at that moment she knew that this puppy would be the one to help her get threw losing Jamie. She picked him up and he shivered in her hands. She looked down at him as he started whining.  
"It's ok, don't be scared." She said to him in a soothing voice. He looked up at her and whined again, but this time he didn't sound scared, it sounded like he was singing.  
"Are you singing?" she asked the puppy who had finally stopped shivering. "That's what I'm going to name you, singer. What do you think of that name?" she asked him. He just looked up at her and gave her a slight nod, and for the first time since Jamie died she smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Three years later

In the time that had past Jude somehow found a way to start enjoying her life again. Having Singer had really helped her, he was the reason she got out of bed in the morning. Sure she still missed Jamie but having Singer made her feel less alone. She still loved Jamie and she knew that some part of her always would but her loss was more bearable now. She could now picture sharing her life with someone else; she was finally ready to start moving on.  
But at the moment she wasn't thinking about what a great dog singer was. She wasn't really thinking at all. She was just concentrating on breathing. She couldn't believe that this was how she was going to die. Suffocated be her dog. Singer was lying on top of her, pinning her to the bed.  
"Get up Singer" she gasped "you're killing me here." Singer just kept on sleeping on top of her. Jude tried to push him off of her but she could barely move her arms.  
"Singer I'm serious, get up!!!" she wheezed. Singer finally woke up, he lifted his head and gave her a look that clearly said 'What do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?'  
"Get off of me" she rasped out. Singer ignored her; he yawned and started rubbing his wet nose against her cheek.  
"Yeah good morning to you too" she said as she watched him roll to the side of her. "Did I say you could get in bed with me?" she asked him. Singer usually slept in the corner of the room but lately he had started to clime in bed with her once she had fallen asleep.  
Singer started licking her face in response to her question. "No you are not forgiven" she said as she pushed him away. "You could have killed me; you weigh a lot more than I do you know." Singer looked at her with sad eyes and then whined, sounding like a small child who had just been yelled at for no reason.  
"Come on I'll take you outside so you can get some fresh air while I take a shower" she said in a softer voice so that he would know that she wasn't to upset with him. "But don't go sniffing around the neighbors trash again, they left an angry message yesterday." Singer gave her a curious look so she continued "I know it's just trash but people are weird like that" she explained to him as they walked to the front door. Once out side Singer went to the trees he looked around as if to make sure that there weren't any new trees or bushes. Singer loved finding new territories to mark as his own. Jude didn't mind this; lately she was just happy that it got him out of her hair for a little while.  
Singer had never really acted like a normal dog. Sure he liked to mark his territory and he walked on four legs but besides that he always acted more as if he were a human instead of a dog. He refused to eat out of a doggy dish, he had never needed a leash, and when ever Jude was watching TV he would lay down by the couch and stare at the TV screen. When ever anyone talked to him he would look at them with his head tilted to the side as if he were following the conversation, and most of the time it seemed as if he understood what they were talking about.  
No matter what Jude told him to do, no matter how absurd it was, he would do it. When she asked him to get her purse he would come to her a moment later with the purse hanging around his neck. If she asked him to turn on/off the light he would balance himself on his hind legs and flick the light switch with his nose. When she asked him to put the box of pop tarts in the pantry he would carry it in his mouth and set it down on one of the shelves in the pantry.  
Sure there were some well trained dogs in the world that could do incredible things, but Singer hadn't needed training. Jude would show him how to do something and when she asked him to do it again he would be able to do it on his own; sometimes he didn't even need her to show him the first time.  
Jude had always thought this was cool, even it other people thought it was weird. People thought it especially weird that she had full conversations with her dog, argued with him (but they always made up soon after the fight), and sometimes she would even ask him for advice.  
But ever since Jude started dating again Singer started acting weirder than usual. He followed her everywhere, the only time he let her out of his sight was when she put him out side. He had been driving her crazy; she kept bumping into him because he was always standing so close to her. Last night he was acting even stranger than that. He started growling in the middle of the night. He stood next the bedroom window growling and barking for over an hour.  
Ever since he was a puppy Singer would growl at strange men. Jude used to think that he had a sixth sense about which guys she couldn't trust and that was why he growled. But she had recently changed her mind and decided that he was just being over protective.  
Jude thought about it while she was in the shower and decided that she was going to have to have a talk with Singer. She knew that Singer didn't want her to be sad and lonely. She knew it would take him a while to get used to having someone else hanging around, and having to share her, but in time he would understand why she needed to find someone to share her life with, and eventually he would even be happy for her.  
She was trying to figure out exactly what it was she would say to him to make him understand when it hit her. "I'm going crazy" she told herself. "He's a dog and I don't have to explain my actions to him."


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys I know it's been a really, really, really long time since I last updated and I am extreamly long time. I'm so sorry. I have no other excuse except that I'm really lazy. I hope you guys like this chapter I promise to post two more by sunday.

Love Ya Lots

Please don't forget to tell me what you think.

Chapter 4  
When she got out of the shower Jude heard the phone ringing and Singer barking from outside. She decided to ignore the phone; she knew it was most likely Wally. Jude had been cutting Wally's hair for over a year and he had asked her out two months ago. It was the first date she had been on since Jamie. She hadn't expected the date to be stellar but she also hadn't expected it to be so awful. Wally didn't talk about anything but his new car. She listened to him talk about it for over three hours before he finally took her home. He had been calling her three times a week ever since trying to get her to go out on another date.  
Then there was Kyle. She met him at the grocery store, he seemed really nice and funny, but on the date she realized what a pervert he was. She got so annoyed by his sexist jokes that she snuck out of the restaurants bathroom window halfway threw dinner. She thanked god that she hadn't from him since that day.  
After a string of bad dates Jude was ready to give up on men, but then she met Max Evens. Jude met Max when he came into the salon for a hair cut. They talked while she cut his hair and when she finished he asked her for a date. He seemed like a nice guy so she said yes.  
The date had gone well. He brought her flowers, opened doors for her, they talked about interesting things, and when he walked her to the door at the end of the date he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek without expecting anything in return. Even though Jude had a great time and thought Max was a great guy, Singer didn't. He growled and barked until she came inside.  
"Singer stop it, don't be so hard on him" she said. Singer looked at her with a sad look then went to the bedroom where he stayed for the rest of the night.  
Jude finished getting ready for work and walked out side to find Singer chasing a bird that was flying just a few inches out of his reach.  
"Singer come on we've got to go." She called out to him. As he came to her she turned to close the door and found an envelope taped to the door. When she opened it she was surprised to find that it was a note from Max.  
Dear Jude,  
I had a great time on our date Saturday night. I can't stop thinking about it. I hope we can go out again soon.  
Max  
"See I told you he was a nice guy." She said holding the note up so that Singer could see it, but he just turned away from her.  
"Oh come on don't be like that you were wrong. You know what I think? I think you're jealous." Singer looked up at her then nuzzled against her leg.  
"Is that it?" she asked him  
"Don't be jealous be happy for me." She said as she pet his head. "Alright lets go, we have to walk to day because Tommy is still fixing the car." She told him. As soon as Singer heard Tommy's name he started wagging his tail, and kept wagging it as they started the two mile walk to the salon where Jude worked.


End file.
